Britain requisitioned more than 60 warships from the Nanyang colonies, 20 warships went to Taiwan, and 40 warships participated in the capture of Hainan Island. Without any suspense, the British army quickly took the sea, and then 1,500 British soldiers went ashore. Hainan Island was originally undefended, so the British army developed rapidly in depth. At the same time, the British army divided 20 warships and 30 merchant ships carrying 1,500 soldiers, and slaughtered towards the Lingding Ocean.

The British Navy has been galloping across the ocean for hundreds of years, and it can be said that there is no opponent in the Shijie range. Whether it was the tonnage of their warships, the power of their guns, or their experience in naval warfare, the British could proudly claim that they were the masters of the seas. Heading to Lingdingyang is the main fleet, with 4 ironclad battleships, 12 sail cruisers, and 4 sail battleships. Four ironclad battleships, of which the flagship Empress ironclad battleship is a new type of warship launched at the beginning of this year, with a displacement of 3,200 tons and a number of 25 naval guns. The other three ironclad battleships are: Invincible, Alexander, and Earl, with a tonnage of about 2,500 tons and 20 guns.

The tonnage of the sail cruiser was about 1500 tons, and the number of naval guns was 16. The tonnage of the 4 sail warships was about 1200 tons, and the number of naval guns was 12. The British will spend money next time, and there is only one purpose, which is to target the Dongguan Industrial Zone in Guangzhou. The British are not fools, how important the Dongguan industrial zone is for the Northern Expeditionary Army, they can figure it out with their feet. The British had to destroy not only the arsenals, the steel works, but also all the factories in the industrial area. Therefore, the British dispatched 1,500 soldiers in an attempt to completely destroy the industrial area under the cover of naval guns.

The sea is blue and windless, and the weather is rare and good. In the command cabin of the flagship Queen, the commander of the British army, Eisenkenberg, was about 50 years old. The man had a tall body, his temples were white, and the beard on his lips was white and black. "Your Excellency General, I didn't expect that the French would be vulnerable in Annam, and they would lose 5,000 soldiers and horses in a month. It seems that the French were devastated after being ravaged by the Prussians. ”

A subordinate ridiculed, and Commander Eisenkembel put down his binoculars and said: "The heavy losses suffered by the French in Annam show that the rebel army of the Qing Dynasty is very combative, so it cannot be underestimated." Now it's up to us to see the power of the British Fleet, and we want to let the Northern Expeditionary Army see what a giant ship cannon is. "Your Excellency, my British Fleet is invincible, and when the time comes, let's see how those Coptis monkeys escape."

"Report! The fleet enters the Lingding Ocean! "A Navy officer reports." Order the sail warship, keep a close eye on the enemy ships, and destroy them immediately if they are found. Commander Eisenkembel waved his hand and went down to the basement to rest. The British fleet formed a battle formation and continued to chop the waves forward. The British already knew that there were defensive fortress artillery on the coastline of the Dongguan industrial zone, so the fleet had to destroy the coastal fortress artillery first.

In the afternoon of the same day, in the Guangzhou City Military Government, Deng Zixuan was inspecting the troops' advance. I saw Pei Gejin, chief of the general staff, hurriedly walked in and said: "Commander-in-chief, I just received a report from a reconnaissance ship that a large number of British warships have entered Lingding Ocean. Deng Zixuan stood up and said: "On the one hand, the British used troops on Hainan Island, and on the other hand, they sent a large number of warships into Lingding Ocean, which is a two-pronged approach, and his target must be Dongguan Industrial Zone." ”

Deng Zixuan pondered for a while and said: "The British Navy is very conceited, they are different from the French Navy, especially in the battle on the ocean, the British have rich experience and cannot be careless. In this way, you sit in the city of Guangzhou, and I will personally go to Dongguan to command the battle. "Commander-in-chief, I'd better go, otherwise it's too dangerous." Pei Ge stopped it. "I want to see the power of the British battleship's cannons, which is necessary for our future defense, so it's decided."

Deng Zixuan rushed to the Dongguan Fortress Fort, and in the strong underground command room of the Fortress Fort, the supreme commander of the fort said in surprise: "Commander-in-Chief, why are you here, it's too dangerous here." "Hugh is going to make noise, I'm going to personally direct the battle, how are the preparations?" Deng Zixuan has no doubt. "Report to the commander-in-chief, 40 fortress cannons are in combat readiness, all work has been completed!" The commander of the battery held his chest up.

"Captain Wang, you graduated from the first phase of Shanghai, so I don't need to say much about how to fight. But to prepare for the worst, I ask you how many soldiers are in reserve for each fortress battery? Deng Zixuan asked. Report to the commander-in-chief, his subordinates have prepared 300 personnel to reinforce the batteries at any time. Deng Zixuan nodded and said: "At present, we don't know about the artillery of the British warships, and we may face a hard battle, so you must be mentally prepared." "Don't worry, commander-in-chief, the people are in the position, we are not a bad seed!"

Visit a nearby fort, "Commander-in-Chief Deng has arrived!" As an officer on duty shouted loudly, the soldiers standing outside the fort raised their hands and saluted, Deng Zixuan returned the military salute and smiled: "Don't be nervous, everyone, I'll come to see you!" Seeing a young soldier raise his head, Deng Zixuan smiled and said, "What's your name?" "Report to the commander-in-chief, my name is Wang Suozhu!" "If you're going to fight, aren't you afraid!" "I'm a little scared!" Wang Suozhu was a little shy and answered honestly.

"It's normal to be afraid, we're about to face the British Navy, which gallops across the ocean. I can tell you that the days of foreigners using a few gunboats to show off their might are gone. We will definitely fight the majesty of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and the British are also ordinary people, return fire, return fire, fire angry shells at the enemy, and I will fight with you. "The soldiers were excited, and the commander-in-chief came to the front in person, which aroused the soldiers' enthusiasm for fighting.

The cannons of Dongguan Fortress are all new cannons, which are produced by Dongguan Arsenal. The fortress cannon has a caliber of 150 mm and a firing range of 5.5 km. Dealing with ironclad battleships will not sink them, but they can severely damage ironclad battleships. As for dealing with sailed wooden ships, it can be said that there is a lot of surplus, in the infantry combat sequence, 150 mm guns belong to heavy artillery, but in naval battles 150 mm guns belong to medium artillery. The main guns of British battleships can basically reach 250 mm, and even the secondary guns can reach 200 or 130 mm.

At present, the fortress fort is not a reinforced concrete building at all, and it is all built with stones, which is the weakness that Deng Zixuan is worried about. In this situation, Deng Zixuan was a little remorseful, weishenme didn't get the cement out, but now the regret is somewhat useless. In the underground hidden room, Deng Zixuan tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, in fact, his heart was very nervous, but he couldn't reveal it, as the backbone of the spirit, it was the most important.

The British commander-in-chief, Eisenkembell, led the fleet to the predetermined sea area at midnight, and he ordered the fleet to stop advancing and cruise in a small area. In the early hours of the morning, Eisen Campbell issued an order, and 12 sail warships formed an attack formation to shell the enemy fortifications. Commander Eisenkenberg did not let the ironclad battleship take the lead in the battle, based on the understanding that the Qing batteries were basically old-fashioned cannons, so there was no need to be afraid, and the cannons of the sail cruisers could be completely dealt with.

Twelve sail cruisers were lined up, and the main guns in the bow were all aimed in the direction of the coast. The British battleships were imposing, as if no one was in a no-man's land. Commander Eisen Campbell, seeing that the battleship was in an attack position, gave the order to open fire. Deng Zixuan's command post is located at a height of about 500 meters at the back of the fortress battery, and the command post is divided into two floors, with a lookout on the upper floor.

Deng Zixuan held a telescope in his hand to observe, witnessing the spectacular fire of the British battleships, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that the British Navy really lived up to its reputation. Especially when he saw the huge ironclad battleship behind him, Deng Zixuan knew that a fierce battle was inevitable. The first round of shelling by the British sail battleship blew up 12 batteries, killing all 10 soldiers inside. The support team went up, and then the No. 5 battery was hit hard, and Deng Zixuan's worries appeared.

They began to fight back, and a huge column of water suddenly surged on the surface of the sea. In the face of such an artillery battle, it is a lie that the fortress artillery is not nervous and timid. In the first round of shelling, not a single shell hit the target. Although Deng Zixuan was anxious in his heart, he could not say anything, and he had to let the soldiers adapt to the brutal artillery battle. Several of the 2nd round of firing hit the sailboat, and black smoke rose from the deck of the ship. "Well played!" Deng Zixuan shouted loudly.

Two more batteries were blown up, and the soldiers seemed to come to their senses. Suddenly, two shells were hit in the middle of a British sail battleship, and a huge explosion sounded when it came, and I saw that this sail battleship was swinging up and down violently, and it suddenly tore two sections of the rank. Commander Eisen Campbell was stunned when he saw this scene, and hurriedly ordered the battleship to retreat. During the retreat, two more battleships were hit and caught fire. Commander Eisen Campbell roared: "What's going on, immediately figure out for me what kind of artillery the enemy fortress artillery is, and what caliber the shells are." ”

The British battleships retreated to a safe distance, and the British soldiers fought to put out the fire and lowered their boats to rescue the sailors. On the flagship, Eisen Campbell blushed, and an officer reported: "Your Excellency, after our calculations, the caliber of the artillery of the enemy fortress battery is 150 mm, the shells are flowering shells, and the range is the same as that of our previous main gun. "Not to mention that the British officers were very efficient. Eisenkebel glared at the crowd and his face turned pale, and his subordinates knew that he wanted to ask nothing.

"You explain what is going on, the rebels of the Great Qing Kingdom actually have such advanced artillery, and we don't even know about it." Everyone looked at each other and didn't know how to answer. "I didn't expect the enemy to be so strong that it would be able to produce the latest artillery, and in time, it would be more difficult for us to set foot on this land than to climb to the sky. Therefore, the enemy's arsenal must be destroyed, and I ordered all ironclad battleships to be dispatched. ”

Deng Zixuan was very sad when he saw the dead soldiers and wounded soldiers who were carried down. "Report to the commander-in-chief that after checking, batteries No. 12, No. 5, No. 21 and No. 29 were blown up, and the barrels of batteries No. 5 were damaged and could not be used. 35 soldiers were killed and 45 wounded. Deng Zixuan waved his hand for the soldiers to carry the casualties down and said, "Then order all the reserves of the Humen Fort to come up!" ”

"Look, the British ironclad battleship is coming!" The lookout post shouted loudly. "Prepare for battle!" Deng Zixuan's face was blue, he knew that an even more brutal battle had begun.